A camera having a plurality of image-capturing optical systems has recently been put forward. When an image-capturing optical system is provided in numbers, a plurality of shutter mechanisms and diaphragm mechanisms are naturally required. At this time, provision of a shutter mechanism and a diaphragm mechanism for each of the image-capturing optical systems is not desirable, because it results in an increase in the number of components, complicated control, and an increase in the size of the image-capturing device. Accordingly, in the field of a camera having a plurality of image-capturing optical systems, a technique of rendering a shutter mechanism or a diaphragm mechanism common among a plurality of image-capturing optical systems has hitherto been proposed. For instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-328173 describes a technique of controlling apertures of three lenses by means of a single diaphragm member. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-134331 describes a technique of coupling two shutter blades corresponding to two lenses into a single piece and driving the thus-integrated shutter blades, to thereby open and close shutters of two lenses. According to these techniques, the number of components related to a shutter or a diaphragm in a camera having a plurality of image-capturing optical systems can be reduced.
However, even with these techniques, there is a necessity for individually driving a shutter member and a diaphragm member, and it is difficult to say that the number of components can be effectively curtailed. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-62780 describes a technique for rendering a drive mechanism common to a shutter member and a diaphragm member. However, the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-62780 is effectively solely in a case where a single image-capturing optical system is provided, and hardly said to be effective for a camera having a plurality of image-capturing optical systems.